Right To Breathe Clean Air

The India Greens Party is of the view that clean air is not only an inalienable human right but also fundamental to healthy human life. Yet, the vast majority of the population lives in places where they are exposed to poor air quality. This has the potential to get significantly worse, as population growth, economic growth, and urbanization cram ever more people into increasingly polluted cities. The air pollution continues to take a heavy toll on health, causing millions of early deaths. With air quality failing to meet legal standards in the majority of cities, people and environmental organizations are increasingly going to court to demand
action. The party is at pains to say that at the heart of the problem is a lack of political will, a symptom of a legal and political order which puts private profit before public health. The party demands from the government to consider banning diesel in cities in order to achieve air quality standards. The government should also ban on solid fuel, including stubble, burning to tackle winter smog that sees particulate matter reach levels many times higher than the limits.